The Stunning Loss Daniel Ortega Never Forgot
Nicaragua’s 1990 election is a tale of a bygone era—and a strongman who eventually got his revenge.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Nicaraguan presidential election that drove the Sandinistas from power. I had a small part to play in the first election in world history that removed a communist regime via the ballot box. Looking at Nicaragua today, many things remain the same. The country suffers the same grinding poverty, the same government oppression and corruption, and even the same Sandinista dictator, Daniel Ortega, who lost that historic election in February 1990—but later returned to power, and never forgot the “lessons” of his defeat. At the time, the idea...
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